Antarctica

American  

[ant-ahrk-ti-kuh, -ahr-ti-] / æntˈɑrk tɪ kə, -ˈɑr tɪ- /

noun

1. the continent surrounding the South Pole: almost entirely covered by an ice sheet. About 5,000,000 sq. mi. (12,950,000 sq. km).

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Antarctica British  

/ æntˈɑːktɪkə /

noun

1. a continent around the South Pole: consists of an ice-covered plateau, 1800–3000 m (6000 ft to 10 000 ft) above sea level, and mountain ranges rising to 4500 m (15 000 ft) with some volcanic peaks; average temperatures all below freezing and human settlement is confined to research stations. All political claims to the mainland are suspended under the Antarctic Treaty of 1959

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Antarctica Cultural  

1. Continent surrounding the South Pole, located almost entirely within the Antarctic Circle. It is covered by an ice cap up to thirteen thousand feet thick.

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Antarctica is characterized by extremely low temperatures.

In 1911, Roald Amundsen became the first explorer to reach the South Pole, followed shortly thereafter by Robert Scott.

Example Sentences

That model tracks changes in ice sheet movement, thickness, temperature, and elevation across Antarctica and the Northern Hemisphere.

From Science Daily • May 29, 2026

As temperatures warm, ice in the Arctic, Greenland and Antarctica melts, and the resulting rise in sea levels slows down Earth’s rotation.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 29, 2026

"Kank helps bridge a distributional gap for the Late Cretaceous of southern Patagonia, connecting known records from northern Patagonia and Antarctica, and showing that this family was dispersed across different latitudes of South America."

From Science Daily • May 29, 2026

The octopus appears to be the runt of the Megaleledonidae family, whose members are normally much larger and live in the Southern Ocean surrounding Antarctica.

From Barron's • May 25, 2026

There are even suggestions that mountains as far south as the Shackleton Range in Antarctica may be fragments of the Appalachian family.

From "A Walk in the Woods" by Bill Bryson